


Membership Dues

by Sabeley



Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fraternity, Blow Jobs, Bottom Even, M/M, Phone Sex, Recreational Drug Use, Sexting, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-03 19:20:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10973724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sabeley/pseuds/Sabeley
Summary: Isak is pledging Even's fraternity. Even keeps having to be reminded that he's not allowed to date the pledges."It's a ten-week pledge period. How hard could it be?"Famous last words.





	1. This is how gay porn starts

**Author's Note:**

> Please forgive me for Americanizing the shit out of this beautiful universe, but there's nothing more "Frat Boy" than Isak in his snapback.
> 
> All Greek organizations mentioned in this fic are meant to be fictional. If I fucked up then whoops, my bad.
> 
> This whole thing is already written so updates will come as fast as I can edit the chapters. Enjoy!

It was the first week of classes and the Student Union was packed uncomfortably full of people. Some were reading, some were getting food, some were catching up with friends. There were literally thousands of people all around him—and Isak couldn’t take his eyes off of one. 

He was pretty sure what he was doing couldn’t even be classified as staring anymore. No, he was ogling. Eyes-wide-mouth-open ogling. But in his defense, the boy was beautiful. 

He was tall— _so_ tall, probably taller than Isak—and he had this perfectly coiffed blonde hair that made him look like an angel with these cheekbones that made him look like a model, and Isak _wanted_. There was this visceral, unchained beast inside of him that needed that boy like he needed air. So he sat there, pretending to listen to Jonas’s rant about the rising cost of tuition, and he kept staring. 

The boy was making his rounds around the Union with a friend and a stack of flyers, stopping to talk to people every couple of minutes. Isak had watched him for so long that he knew he was making a giant loop around the main room. Knew that if he sat there for long enough, the boy would eventually reach him and he’d be able to see what color his eyes were—or, you know, talk to him maybe—but the closer he got, the more Isak felt like he was going to throw up. 

The boy and his friend were only a few yards away when the little bit of courage Isak had mustered over the past fifteen minutes disappeared completely. Nope, no, he was not doing this. He was just about to rip his gaze away from the boy—something that he imagined would be akin to ripping off one of those really thick Band-Aids that always took a giant chunk of hair with it—when suddenly that option was taken away from him because the boy turned, met Isak’s gaze, and smirked. 

Isak looked away immediately, cheeks flaming red, and he must have made some sort of wounded grunt because Jonas paused his monologue. 

“Are you okay?” 

Isak glanced up just in time to watch the beautiful boy pat his friend on the shoulder and gesture in their direction. “Fuck,” he hissed, turning into Jonas like he might somehow be able to protect him. “Just be cool, okay?” 

“Be cool?” Jonas asked. “When am I not cool?” 

Isak didn’t have time to give him any further instructions before a shadow passed over them and they were joined in their study corner by the two boys. Isak tried to will his blush away but if anything, he felt it grow hotter. 

“Hi,” the boy who was not his boy said, crashing down into one of the two empty seats across from them. He had tan skin, chocolate brown hair, and a smile that would have set Isak immediately at ease if he hadn’t already been so worked up. “I’m Mikael and this is my friend Even.” Isak chanced a glance at Even after the introduction only to find him staring at Isak much as Isak had been staring at him earlier. It wasn’t exactly a friendly stare. More predatory. He raised his eyebrows in greeting when Isak met his gaze, and Isak’s throat immediately went dry. He noted that Even’s eyes were blue. 

“I’m Jonas,” Jonas introduced and then paused, giving Isak a chance to speak, but Isak missed his cue and after a few awkward seconds, Jonas continued, “and this is Isak.” 

“You’re freshmen, right?” Mikael asked, grabbing two flyers off the top of his pile and passing one to each of the boys. “I’m the Membership Director over at Pi Sigma Beta. We’re having a party tomorrow night if you’re interested in pledging—or free beer if you’re not. It’s a good way to meet people. There’ll be lots of girls there.” 

“And hot guys,” Even added, his eyes still glued to Isak. Isak shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but couldn’t look away. It was like Even was a magnet, dragging him in against his will. (Except it wasn’t against his will. Not even a little bit.) 

“Uh, yeah,” Mikael agreed, looking between the two of them with possibly the most exasperated look Isak had ever seen on someone who wasn’t Jonas. “Anyway…stop by and say hello. We’ll be there.” 

Jonas nodded as the boys stood, already skimming the flyer in his hand. Isak was about to look down at his own just to avoid staring at Even some more, when the boy spoke again. “Bye, Isak.” 

He joined Mikael as they moved on to their next group of potential pledges, but he kept looking back over his shoulder at Isak until Mikael forcibly turned his head and hissed something in his ear. Even threw up a hand as if to say ‘What do you want from me?’ and then turned his beautiful blue eyes back to Isak one last time before they rounded the corner and drifted out of sight. Isak stared at the spot where he disappeared for almost a full minute before Jonas interrupted his thoughts. 

“I don’t care how hot that guy was, we’re not going to that party.” 

* 

They went to the party. 

“Free beer, Jonas, come on!” 

“You want me to sell my soul for free beer?” 

“Well…kinda.” 

It took some convincing, but Jonas finally agreed to brave the crowd of “rich, binge-drinking, narrow-minded, power-hungry assholes” when Isak promised him free rein of the dorm room anytime he wanted to bring a girl home, no questions asked. It was a steep price, but Isak was more than willing to pay it for the chance to see Even again. 

The house they arrived at was smaller than most of the other fraternity houses he’d seen around campus, but that didn’t seem to hamper the party at all. The people who couldn’t fit inside were spilling out onto the front lawn instead, dancing and laughing to the beat of the music blaring out of the overhead speakers. 

They found the kegs on the side of the house and grabbed two teeming Solo cups of beer before wandering back into the thick of things where they were immediately accosted by a rosy-cheeked Mikael. “You came!” he cried, throwing his arms out like it was the best news he had heard all day. “Come on, there’s some people I want you to meet.” 

Isak was introduced to so many people that night that he gave up trying to remember all of their names. The party quickly began to feel more like a job interview and he hadn’t actually come there to get recruited. He just wanted to see Even and yet, the boy was nowhere to be found. 

_You said you would be here, asshole._

Mikael had whisked Jonas away almost immediately after meeting them on the lawn (“You’re taking Sustainability? Dude, you’ve gotta meet David. You know that compost garden they just started out by the Ag fields? That was _all_ him.”) and Isak hadn’t seen him since. He was passed from brother to brother for almost an hour before he claimed he had to use the bathroom and then pushed into the house, hoping that maybe he might be able to find some peace and quiet inside. 

He didn’t find any peace and quiet—it was actually louder inside and the air was so thick with sweat that it was hard to draw breath—but he _did_ find the hard liquor. He was pouring himself a rum and Coke (emphasis on the rum), when he felt an arm snake around his waist. He ignored it at first, thinking it was just some drunk party-goer trying to push past him, but then there was a wall of muscle pressed against his back and a deep voice whispering in his ear. 

“Hi.” 

Isak set his glass down and turned to stare up into the bright blue eyes of Even Bech Næsheim. Because, yes, he knew exactly who he was now because he’d looked him up on Pi Sig’s Facebook page. Even gave him a devilish smirk and tightened his grip on Isak’s waist until they were huddled so close together that if Isak just lifted his head, they would be kissing. It was dizzying. Between the three beers he’d had, the loud music pounding in his ears, and the beautiful boy in front of him, Isak didn’t know which way was up. “Come with me,” Even said, relinquishing his grip and moving back into the throng of people without turning to make sure Isak was following him. 

Isak faltered for only a second, but he knew that if he didn’t go now, he’d lose Even in the crowd. Together they wove through three separate rooms and out towards the back porch and the fenced-in yard beyond. There were still people out there, but not as many. Judging by the Greek letters and the greetings Even received as they passed, it looked like mainly the brothers and their girlfriends. 

Even led him all the way across the yard to an empty bench and sat down, pulling a joint out of his pocket and lighting it up without even looking around to make sure no one was watching. Isak’s eyes widened at the sheer audacity, but he sat down nonetheless. When Even passed him the joint, he took it, but paused with it raised halfway to his lips. 

“Is this a test?” he asked. 

It was only as Even looked up from Isak’s lips to his eyes that Isak realized he’d been staring at them at all. “He speaks!” Even chuckled, grabbing the joint out of his hand to take another drag, but then promptly returning it. “Test?” 

“Like are you trying to weed out the pot-heads or something?” 

“From the fraternity? What fun would that be?” Isak narrowed his eyes in doubt, but couldn’t tell whether or not the boy was lying. What the hell did it matter anyway? It wasn’t like he was planning on joining regardless. 

He took a long drag from the joint and reveled in the sweet taste on the back of his tongue before releasing the smoke into the air and offering it back to Even. Isak convinced himself that the spark he felt when their hands touched was a side effect of the weed. 

“I didn’t think you would show up,” Even admitted. 

“Uh, well, free beer, you know?” he replied, pressing his snapback further down on the top of his head just to have something to do. Even watched his hands as they moved. 

“Well, damn,” he finally replied once Isak stopped fidgeting. “I was hoping you’d come for the hot guys.” 

Isak was suddenly very glad Even had dragged him out of the house because he could at least hide his blush in the dark. He reached out for the joint, realizing belatedly that he really needed to be high for this, and Even passed it over. 

“You don’t strike me as the frat-guy type,” he said as soon as he’d taken another hit. He looked over to find Even staring back at him with a pleased smirk on his face, like he somehow knew that Isak had spent the better part of a day stalking him on social media. It was only after he’d spoken that he realized his question implied some familiarity that they didn’t have. His blush darkened. 

“First piece of advice?” Even asked, leaning back against the bench, his legs spread open in front of him so that his right thigh was burning a hole in Isak’s. “Don’t call it a ‘frat’. They’re really touchy about that. It’s a ‘fraternity’ or nothing at all. And it’s not _really_ my thing, but I joined to do one of those exposé, undercover-type documentaries about Greek life and actually ended up enjoying it. So here I am.” Isak had no idea if he was joking or not, so he just kept staring. Even didn’t seem to mind. “What about you? You going to pledge?” 

Isak scrunched up his nose in distaste. “No,” he said, but when Even cocked an eyebrow at his quick response, he felt compelled to keep talking. “Maybe. I don’t know.” Even’s smile grew even wider. “I mean, if I join are you going to haze me or something?” 

“Haze you?” Even asked incredulously. 

“Yeah,” Isak snapped because it wasn’t an outrageous question at all. “Like tie me up, drag me out into a corn field, and tape me naked to a pole or some shit like that?” 

Even laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. “No, Isak. I promise I will not tie you up unless you ask me to.” And, wow, okay, that was certainly something he was going to spend some time thinking about in the shower later. 

He tried to think of something equal parts clever and flirty to spit back at him, but all that came out was, “Sorry if I don’t believe you, but every gay porn I’ve ever seen starts off like this and ends with me on my knees for like twenty guys, so—” 

Even let out a startled laugh as Isak tried to hold back a smile. “Nah,” the older boy smirked. “I’d be way too jealous to let that happen.” 

They passed the joint back and forth a few more times, neither of them saying anything, but trading suggestive smiles every couple of hits. “Jonas said if I join, I won’t be able to wear my snapbacks,” he finally said a few minutes later. “That there’s like a uniform or something?” 

“A uniform?” Even asked, looking down at his jean jacket and white T-shirt. “Like what? A Polo and khakis?” 

Isak gave him a what-do-you-want-from-me shrug and Even rolled his eyes. “It’s a fraternity, Isak, not a cult.” 

The yard had started to empty by then and when Isak pulled out his phone to look at the time, he was startled to find that it was already after one. “Damn,” he muttered, pocketing it and standing up from the bench. “I didn’t realize it was so late. I have an 8 AM in the morning.” 

Even nodded, dropping what was left of the joint onto the ground and putting it out with his foot. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow in Psych.” 

Isak paused his retreat. “Huh?” he asked. Even tore his gaze away from the ground and looked over at him, eyebrows raised. 

“Psychology 101? With Hamrick? We have that class together. I’ll find you. Good night, Isak.” He stood with a smirk and crossed the yard back to the house, leaving Isak behind him, jaw hanging open in surprise. That psychology class had 300 plus students in it and they had only met twice. How in the world… 

He shook his head to chase those thoughts away and walked around the house to find Jonas, who was still talking to some of the brothers in the front yard. “You know, I kinda like them,” Jonas said as they started the short walk back to their dorm room. “I mean, I still hate the institution as a whole, obviously, but they’re pretty cool.” Isak just nodded, knowing from experience that Jonas would be able to carry that conversation by himself. 

He fell asleep that night with an image of Even in his head and a smile on his face. 

* 

The next morning, Isak shut his alarm clock off with a groan and quietly made his way into the bathroom he shared with Jonas, who was lucky enough not to have class until ten. He peed and then turned around to brush his teeth but froze at the sight of two small metal pins taped to the bathroom mirror. Hanging above them on neon green Post-It notes were his and Jonas’s names scrawled in messy handwriting. 

Isak reached out for his, half convinced that he was still drunk from the night before, and stared down at the Greek letters engraved onto the black metal: ΠΣΒ. “You’ve gotta be shitting me,” he muttered and then reached out to grab the sticky note with his name on it, as if it might offer him some answers. When he flipped it over, he noticed something printed on the back in the same messy scrawl as his name. 

_Mikael says you can keep the snapbacks._


	2. Get off the fucking pledge, Even

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are about to start heating up...

Isak waffled for ten whole minutes before finally deciding to stick the pledge pin to his T-shirt. He then grabbed his bag and Jonas’s faded red snapback and crossed campus to his Intro to Biology lecture. If he had to sit through an early morning class, at least it was an interesting one. 

He had just stepped out of the lecture hall an hour later when his phone pinged with two simultaneous texts from Jonas. 

_What the hell is this?_

_Isak!!! I can’t be a FRAT GUY_

Isak smirked but ignored the texts. It was too early in the morning to be dealing with existential crises. 

His morning went by quickly and Isak wasn’t sure whether it was because he made it to all of his classes on time without getting lost once, or if it was the pin on his chest, but for the first time all week he felt like he actually belonged. 

After his morning classes, he settled in for a leisurely lunch by himself in the Student Union. He had barely started eating, however, before he was joined by two Pi Sig brothers he had apparently met the night before. They talked for a while about the pledge process and although Isak enjoyed the company, he soon had to excuse himself for his Psychology lecture. 

“You have that with Even, right?” Elias, one of the brothers, asked. Isak nodded and was irrationally pleased when he didn’t feel his cheeks start to burn. Elias chuckled. “He is so gone for you, dude.” 

Isak wasn’t sure what to say to that so he left, his stomach tying itself into intricate knots that grew tighter with every step that he took. He didn’t know why, but he was worried about seeing Even. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure how much of the night before had been real and how much of it had been a dream. Because, oh boy, had there been dreams. Dirty, sexy dreams that made Isak blush just thinking about them. The blushing was something he was going to have to work on. 

When he walked into the lecture hall, Even was already waiting for him in the seat next to the one Isak had sat in for the past two classes. He looked up at the sound of the door opening and raised his eyebrows in greeting. The tension in Isak’s body instantly eased. 

“You’re here early,” he said, dropping his bag to the floor as he took his usual seat in the back of the class. 

“So are you,” Even retorted, reaching out for Isak immediately. For one heart-wrenching second, he thought Even was about to pull him in for a kiss, but instead his fingers danced around the pledge pin stuck to his chest. “Looks good on you.” 

“Yeah, about that,” Isak said, swatting the other boy’s arm away. “Did you sneak into my room last night?” Even shrugged but there was a sparkle in his eyes that made the answer obvious. “Oh my God,” Isak groaned, burying his head in his hands as he tried to remember what pajamas he’d been wearing. 

“No, none of that,” Even said, grabbing Isak’s hands and dragging them down into his lap. “You’re cute when you sleep.” His thumbs rubbed soothing circles into Isak’s palms until the younger boy looked up and found Even’s gaze searing through him like fire. He knew he should pull his hands away because the auditorium was quickly filling with people and he was only a couple seconds away from an inappropriate boner, but he couldn’t bear the thought of separating. It was Even who eventually dropped his hands with a heavy sigh. “I don’t think I thought this through,” he said, turning to the front of the class and dropping his head back onto the seat behind him. 

Isak bristled, his blood running cold. Hadn’t thought _what_ through? Some of his fears must have shown on his face because Even quickly clarified. “You know I can’t touch you while you’re wearing that?” he asked, gesturing to the pin. Isak looked down at it and then back up with a smirk. 

“I can take it off.” He didn’t realize until after he’d said it how desperate that sounded, but the pained groan Even released at his words made any embarrassment worth it. 

“No,” he chuckled. “I mean I can’t touch you at all. You’re off-limits, _pledge_.” 

Isak looked at him in stunned silence for several long seconds. “Are you fucking kidding me?” 

“No!” Even cried, and although there was a nervous laugh hidden behind his words, Isak could just tell that he wasn’t lying. Not when it looked like it took everything he had in him to admit that much. “We’re not allowed to hook up with pledges because it’s like an abuse of power or something. I don’t know. Mikael was explaining it to me last night. Something about how if I asked you to suck my dick, you might feel like you had to suck my dick to get into the fraternity.” 

Isak scrunched his eyebrows in disbelief, paying no attention to the people settling in around them. “Can _you_ suck _my_ dick?” 

Even looked pointedly down into his lap and made a show out of licking his lips. “God, I wish.” Isak felt his pants tighten uncomfortably, but he had run out of fucks to give. 

He removed his snapback and ran his fingers through his curls before shoving it back on with an incredulous laugh. “Even, why the hell did you recruit me in the first place?” 

Even shrugged and the bravado that Isak had grown used to seeing slipped from his face, leaving behind a boy that looked just as confused as Isak felt. “I just wanted to spend more time with you,” he admitted, like it was that simple. Like that was something you could tell another person without their heart exploding in their chest. How could he be mad about that? 

“I would just say fuck it,” Evan continued, “but Pi Sig’s paying my scholarship and I haven’t decided whether you’re worth what it would cost me yet.” 

Isak clutched his chest in mock outrage. “My blowjobs alone are worth the cost of tuition, I promise you.” Even smiled up at him shyly. “I guess I could always just…not pledge.” As he spoke, he thought about the boys that had come up to him at lunch and welcomed him when no one else had, and he immediately regretted the offer. Luckily, Even brushed that suggestion away quickly. 

“No,” he said, reaching out to brush a stray curl behind Isak’s ear. “It’s a ten-week pledge period. How hard could it be? 

* 

The answer was hard. Very hard. So hard Isak was jerking off more now, as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, than he ever had in his life and it was awkward, okay? Because he shared a bathroom with Jonas and Jonas _knew_. They all knew. All the pledges and all of the brothers and the whole university, probably, knew that Isak Valtersen and Even Bech Næsheim were not getting any. And it sucked. 

Even wasn’t helping matters. Isak wasn’t sure if it was just a result of the whole forbidden-love thing they had going on or if it was a weird glitch in the space-time continuum, but every single time he saw him he was more beautiful than the last. And that whole unchained beast inside of him that _wanted_? Yeah, it was still there and oh so hungry. 

The “I have English and a boner” sexts weren’t helping either. 

Despite all of the sexual tension that literally felt like it was tearing Isak apart, he did find himself pretty busy. It didn’t seem that Even had been lying about the hazing, but that didn’t mean the brothers weren’t making their lives a living hell in other ways. 

To start, if they weren’t in class or the library, they had to be at the house. Which was fine, usually, because Even had started spending his free time there as well and they would sit together on one of the recliners in the living room, so close to each other that Isak could almost imagine what it would feel like to be wrapped in his arms. Mikael threw them a warning glare every time he saw them, but seating was limited and he couldn’t really begrudge them sharing. 

Another bonus of having Even around—aside from the simple fact that Even was around—was that he kept the other brothers away. When he wasn’t there, there was no one to protect Isak from the onslaught of chores that seemed to follow the pledges everywhere they went. 

Isak ran errands and washed clothes and proofed papers and tutored one graduating senior in Intro to Bio because he’d waited until the very last minute to take it. He washed cars and wrote resumes and cooked a meal for the first time probably ever. He painted fences and cleaned bathrooms and really fucked up his sleeping schedule acting as designated driver. He spent a Friday night with the other pledges serenading a light post in the student parking lot to One Direction’s greatest hits. He spent a Saturday morning running five miles shirtless in the rain. 

He was happier than he could ever remember being. 

Isak and Jonas became fast friends with two of the other pledges, Magnus and Mahdi, and all of the shit they were put through bonded them in ways Isak hadn’t even known was possible. He thought maybe that was the point. They became something more than friends. They became family. They became brothers. 

It was on a Thursday night four weeks into the pledge process that Isak found himself surrounded by a mountain of books on the third floor of the library. It was late—almost midnight—but he was determined to make the most out of the little free time he had. He’d had to switch DD shifts with Mahdi to even get this much, which meant he would be driving drunk frat guys around after the game on Saturday, but he had a test the next morning and he could not fail. Not if he wanted to keep his scholarship. 

He was so focused on his diagram of cell division that he didn’t even notice someone had joined him at his table until a steaming cup of coffee was pushed under his nose. He followed the steam up, already enthralled, and found Even smirking down at him, which, if he was being honest, was just as energizing as the caffeine. 

“How did you find me?” 

“That thing has a tracker in it,” Even said, pointing at the pin on his chest. Isak looked down at it, scandalized, and it was a sign of just how tired he was that his first thought was _of course it does_. It was only when he heard Even chuckling under his breath that he realized it was a joke. 

“You’re kidding?” 

“Yeah, I’m kidding. I texted Jonas. He told me where to find you.” Isak wondered briefly whether he was really that predictable, but then he took a sip of the caramel latte Even had brought him and he forgot to care. It didn’t escape his notice that the sound he made when the sweetness first touched his tongue was practically porn-worthy. He didn’t think it escaped Even’s notice either because when Isak looked up, Even was staring at his lips and his pupil were blown, even under the bright lights of the library. 

“Give me ten minutes to finish this set of flashcards and then we can get out of here?” Isak asked, although he wasn’t quite sure what he was offering or what Even would let him give. 

“Yeah,” Even agreed. “Maybe we can—” He was interrupted mid-sentence by a loud _shhh_ from a few tables over. Isak chuckled as Even rolled his eyes. 

“Ten minutes,” he mouthed and then turned back to his laptop. 

Even only made it four before Isak felt his long legs brush against his under the table. It was comforting at first, but when Even’s foot slowly began creeping up Isak’s calf, it became almost too distracting to function. His dick twitched in his pants helplessly. 

“Stop,” he mouthed, but Even didn’t stop—at least not entirely. He _did_ move his foot back down so that it was only touching Isak’s ankle and that at least allowed him to return his attention to his flashcards. 

Five more minutes. 

He got a text after one. 

He thought it might be Jonas wondering where he was, so he pulled it out of his pocket to check and sighed when he saw Even’s name flashing across his screen. “Seriously?” he hissed. 

Even smirked back at him, not the least bit cowed. “Read it.” Isak knew that if he didn’t, Even was never going to leave him alone, so he thumbed open his phone and had to choke back a groan when he saw the text staring up at him. 

_I want you inside of me_

His dick, which was only slightly interested before, was _very_ interested now. Isak didn’t know if Even was trying to pay him back for the English boner or what, but this wasn’t fair because he had to go back to a dorm that he shared with Jonas and rubbing one out just wasn’t an option with his best friend in the room. 

Of course, Isak didn’t want Even to know just how much of an effect he was having on him, so he set the phone on the table as if he had only been checking the weather and then whispered, “Is that the best you can do? That’s like the lamest sext in the world. _Everyone_ uses that line.” 

“Yeah?” Even asked, his foot rubbing up Isak’s calf once more. His breath hitched in his throat and he hoped Even didn’t notice. “Bet you can’t do better.” 

“Oh, I can do better,” Isak whispered, shutting his laptop since he obviously wasn’t going to get any work done. He returned Even’s challenging glare and grabbed his phone to compose a text. 

It took him a good minute, but once he finally found the right words he hit send and sat back with a smug grin to watch as Even read them. Even’s confident smirk was quickly replaced with a deep red blush. 

_When I touch myself, I think about you underneath me, fucking yourself back on my cock so deep and so hard that you will feel me inside of you for days._

Even swallowed hard as he hit the sleep button on his phone. “Um, yeah,” he said and it was the first time Isak could ever remember seeing him shy. He kind of loved it. “Yours was better.” They shared a heated glance across the table and Isak was this close to pouncing over it like a wild animal when the girl a few tables away coughed and pulled him out of the lust-induced haze he’d found himself in. 

“I hope you weren’t planning on leaving here any time soon,” Even continued. “Cause I’ve got a bit of a situation here and staring at you isn’t really helping, so…” 

“You started it!” Isak cried, earning another _shhh_ from across the room. “Damn it! Can we just get out of here? Please?” 

Despite the very obvious boners they were both sporting, a couple of strategically placed backpacks got them out of the library without drawing too much attention. It was a warm night, probably a bit too warm, but it felt good after the chill in the library. Without discussing where they were going, both boys turned towards Isak’s dorm. 

“I’m guessing you’re not going to let me take care of that for you?” he asked, gesturing down to Even’s pants. 

“I should,” he snapped, like the sexting war had been Isak’s idea. “It’s your fucking fault.” 

“ _My_ fault?” Isak cried, his voice carrying in the quiet night. “Excuse me, but who’s the one who used sex to lure me into his frat and then informed me that we couldn’t have sex if I was in his frat? Because it wasn’t me.” 

“That guy sounds like a total cock tease. You should ditch him.” 

Isak chuckled and looked up at Even from beneath his eyelashes. “I should, shouldn’t I?” 

They were only a few minutes away from his dorm and he was already dreading the moment that they would have to separate. It was getting harder and harder to be close to Even without actually being close to him. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep it up. 

As if Even had read his mind, he reached across the distance between them and took Isak’s hand in his. The anxiety that had been building in his chest only seconds earlier dissipated completely. He interlaced their fingers and pulled Even closer, taking comfort in the small amount of affection he was allowed to give. 

“Are you going to the game on Saturday?” Even asked, squeezing Isak’s hand in his. Isak nodded. “Do you maybe want to go with me?” 

Isak stopped walking in the middle of the Quad because the request was just that unbelievable. “ _You_ are going to the game Saturday? Do you even like football?” 

“No,” Even shrugged. “But I like you. And you can’t sit in the fraternity block until you’re initiated, but you _can_ come as my date. The seats are good. You would like it.” 

“Well if the seats are good,” he smiled, not bothering to point out that Even could be offering him the worst seats in the stadium and he would still say yes. 

It only took a couple more minutes to reach Isak’s dorm and then they stood in front of the door like two teenagers who had just gotten back from their first date. It should have been where they had a passionate kiss goodnight, but instead all Isak got was a soft peck on the cheek. It was more than he’d been expecting. 

“See you tomorrow?” 

“Yeah, see you.” 

They traded one last, longing look and then they went their separate ways. 

Once Isak was in his bedroom, he stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed, listening to Jonas’s snores from across the room in the hopes that they would lull him to sleep. They didn’t. 

The longer Isak stayed awake, the more he thought about the text he’d sent Even in the library and just how much he wished it was real. He was rock hard and two seconds away from breaking the promise he and Jonas had made to never jack off in the same room when his phone started vibrating on the bed next to him. 

He answered it on instinct without even looking at the display just to make the noise stop. Jonas’s snores never faltered. 

“Isak?” asked a soft voice from the other line. There was a desperate need behind the words that had him sitting up in bed. 

“Even, baby, what’s wrong?” 

“Isak,” he said again, his voice coming out in rapid pants. “You can’t just say something like that and then leave me, okay? You can’t do that. I need—I need—I need to hear your voice, okay? I just need to hear you.” 

His words stopped, but the ragged breaths continued. When Isak finally realized what he was listening to, he almost came right then. “Fuuuck, Even, are you—? Hold on. Just wait for me, okay?” 

He hopped out of bed and scrambled into the bathroom so fast it was a miracle Jonas didn’t wake up. He locked the door behind him and then turned on the shower, knowing that it was something Jonas could sleep through and figuring even if it wasn’t, a shower was a much more acceptable reason to wake your roommate up at two in the morning than phone sex. 

Isak turned the volume up on his phone so that he could hear it over the running water and then pulled his boxers down around his ankles and sat on the toilet. When he lifted the phone back to his ear, he could tell that Even’s breaths were coming faster and now he could also hear the telling _squelch_ of a hand jacking off a lube-soaked cock. Isak licked his palm and wrapped it around himself, knowing that it wasn’t going to take much to finish him tonight—not with Even breathing heavily in his ear. 

“Fuck, Even, I’m here,” he said, quickening his pace so that he was moving in time to the sounds on the other end of the phone. “Are you touching yourself for me, baby?” 

“Mhmm,” Even breathed. “I want you inside of me, Isak.” It was the same words he’d texted him earlier in the night, but this time they didn’t sound lame at all. “God, I’m so close. I just need to hear you. Talk to me. Please.” 

And so he did. “Fuck, Even. God, I wish I was there. I want to see you. I dream about you, you know? It's so fucking embarrassing. I wake up with wet sheets like I'm fucking twelve or something." There was a high-pitched mewling in his ear that sent a shiver down his spine. "As soon as I have those damn letters, we are fucking. Like immediately. And I'm probably going to come embarrassingly fast, but you can't laugh at me, okay? Because this is all your fucking fault." 

He felt his orgasm approaching quickly and knew that if he was close, then Even must be too. The sounds he was making sure made it seem like he was close, but it wasn't like Isak knew what he sounded like when he came, so... "God, you're so perfect, so beautiful. Shit, baby, can you come for me? Please come for me because I'm about to and you have to get there first—" 

A deep, guttural growl started up almost immediately, like Even had only been waiting for permission, and Isak felt it vibrating in his bones. The sound of Even's climax punched his out of him as well and he watched as white-hot cords of cum coated his hand. He shivered through his orgasm, feeling closer to Even than he ever had, but as the desperate need to _take_ left his body, he remembered that he was in a cold bathroom all alone and there was no one waiting to hold him as he fell asleep. He groaned in frustration and balanced the phone on his shoulder as he shoved his hand under the running water in the shower to clean it. 

There was a chuckle from the other line that soothed the ache inside of him just a bit. "Loophole." 

"Loophole?" Isak asked incredulously. "Loophole?! I fucking hate you right now, I hope you know that. I like to cuddle after sex, asshole." 

"Good to know." 

"Ugh, you're impossible," he said, but he couldn't stop smiling and he thought Even could probably hear it in his voice. He shut the shower off, wiped his now-clean hand on his towel, and sat back on the toilet to say goodnight. 

"I can come over there and cuddle you if you want. I didn't actually plan to call you. I know I'm not supposed to. I just...lost my mind a little bit after you sent me that text." Isak had his mouth open to say, once again, that Even had explicitly asked for that, when Even continued. "I can't get you out of my head. You're all I ever think about. It's driving me crazy." 

Isak stifled his pleased grin in his shoulder. "Six more weeks," he whispered. 

Even groaned from the other line. "Fucking hell. I'm going to disassociate." 

"Yeah, you do that," Isak quipped with a chuckle. "But you've gotta let me sleep now, okay? Because I've got a Bio exam in like—" He glanced down at his watch. "Five hours." 

"Fine," Even huffed. "Good night, Isak." 

"Night." 

He still had a stupid grin painted on his face when he tiptoed back into his room, but it quickly fell from his lips when Jonas sat up on his elbows. Even in the dark, Isak could see his judgmental eyebrows. 

"Don't. Say. A. Word." 

Jonas collapsed back onto his pillow with a laugh and Isak had no trouble falling asleep after that. 

* 

The downside of sitting with Even at the football game was that, as the only pledge there, it was like there was a giant neon sign pointing at him that said "Beer Caddy." Luckily, Even wasn't having it. He did the beer runs himself the first two times someone asked and when the brothers noticed, they stopped asking altogether. It was nice. Almost like a real date except Mikael was acting as a chaperone and they weren't allowed to so much as look longingly at each other without him shooting them a glare. 

Isak met back up with Jonas, Magnus, and Mahdi at the after-party, but him and Magnus were on DD duty and it turns out those parties are a lot less fun when you can't drink. Even, however, was having a great time and Isak couldn't help but watch adoringly as he downed shot after shot. Even was a pleasant drunk. 

He was also a horny drunk. 

Isak had just gotten back from his second run and was pouring a Sprite in the kitchen when Even grabbed him by the waist and backed him up against the nearest cabinet. "Stop leaving me," he whined, nuzzling his cold nose into Isak's neck. 

Isak laughed. "Take it up with Mikael, dude,” he said, bringing his hands up to rest on Even’s chest. “Someone's gotta drive your drunk ass home." 

Even’s hands slowly began drifting down Isak's waist until they were buried in the back pockets of his jeans. Isak’s hips jerked forward instinctually. “Fuck Michael,” he spat. 

"Pretty sure I'm not allowed to do that either," Isak quipped. Even growled and used his grip on Isak's ass to pull him closer until there was no space left between them. It was impossible to miss the hardness in Even's jeans. "Fuck, Even, come on. Stop it,” he begged, but even to his own ears it didn’t sound convincing because Even had started laving wet, sloppy kisses on the side of his neck and he couldn’t breath. “We can't do this here." 

Even whined, but lifted his head. Isak thought that meant he was about to back off, but the next thing he knew, Even's lips were hovering only a millimeter above his and when he spoke, Isak felt the words against his lips. "I don't fucking care anymore." 

The noises from the party were suddenly drowned out by the beating of Isak's heart and he just knew that he was about to jump Even in the middle of the frat house because what the fuck else did they expect him to do, seriously? Even was staring down at him, asking permission, and Isak was a millisecond away from giving it to him when a throat cleared from across the room. 

Isak tried to push Even away, but the boy wouldn't move, so he looked over his shoulder instead and saw Mikael watching them with a cocked eyebrow. "Even, get off the fucking pledge!" He cried, throwing his arms up in frustration. 

Even rolled his eyes like a petulant child but backed away, raising his hands as if to prove that he wasn't touching anyone, thank you very much. 

"Why do you hate me so much?" he asked. "He's the most beautiful boy in the whole world and I love him." Isak’s next breath got caught in his throat and blood flooded his face so quickly that he actually felt light-headed. 

If Even realized what he had said, he certainly didn’t seem to understand the gravity of it, but Mikael sure did. He buried his head in his hand and looked over at his friend from between cracked fingers like he was embarrassed _for_ him. 

“Oh my God, dude. You never get to make fun of me for liking _Love Actually_ again.” He then turned to Isak. “You need to get him out of here before _El Presidente_ in there hears him saying that.” He crossed the room to Even in two easy steps and without bothering to ask for permission, stuck his hand deep into the boy’s right front pocket. Even jerked back with an affronted gasp, but Mikael already had his keys in hand. “You know where the apartment is?” he asked Isak. Isak took the keys and nodded. “Take him home and then come back. Let me repeat myself: take him home and then _come back_. You have to come back, Isak. Do you understand?” 

Isak didn't come back. 

He did _mean_ to, but once they got to Even’s apartment complex, he knew Even wouldn’t have the coordination to get up the stairs and unlock his apartment door on his own, so he helped with that. Then, once they were inside, he figured he should probably get him some Gatorade or something because Even _had_ technically told him he loved him and it was really the least he could do. 

So he force-fed him a whole bottle of Gatorade and then dragged him to the bedroom and tried to get him situated for bed, which was a whole other ordeal entirely. Even refused to undress himself—insisted that Isak just _had_ to help—and every time Isak was finally able to remove a layer of clothing, Even wanted to remove one of his in return. 

“Even, baby, you’ve gotta let me do this, okay?” he whined. “You can take my clothes off some other time, I promise.” That at least seemed to settle him a bit and he collapsed back onto his pillow and allowed Isak to pull off his tennis shoes and jeans without any further fuss. 

Isak let out a self-satisfied sigh when he finished and then sat down on the floor next to Even’s head. He turned to face Isak, his hair falling loosely into his eyes, and Isak pushed it out of the way with a touch so gentle it surprised even him. 

_You were wrong_ , he thought. You _are the most beautiful boy in the world._

“I shouldn’t’ve drank so much tonight,” he slurred and Isak laughed, rubbing his thumb over Even’s brow soothingly. 

“You think?” 

“Yeah,” he said, his eyes fluttering closed at Isak’s touch. “’Cause it fucks with my meds, ya know?” Isak didn’t know, but Even looked so cute saying it that he was compelled to lean down and kiss him on the forehead. Even hummed happily. 

“Okay, you heard Mikael. I have to get back.” He tried to stand, but Even immediately pulled him back down onto the bed with a show of strength Isak hadn’t thought possible at this point. “Babe, he’s going to kill both of us. You have to let me go.” 

“No,” Even argued. He scooted over in the bed and pulled on Isak’s shoulders to force him to lie down next to him. “You stay here.” Isak groaned, but didn’t bother to sit back up. He did, however, roll over so that he could look Even in the eyes and he was surprised to find just how close they were. When Even blinked, he could feel his eyelashes brush against his cheek. “Please stay,” he mumbled and there was something so broken about it that Isak knew he didn’t stand a chance. 

“Ugh, fine,” he groaned, “but you have to at least let me get out of these jeans.” So he climbed out of bed amidst half-hearted protests and toed off his shoes and jeans while composing a hasty test to Jonas. 

_Room’s yours. Staying at Even’s_

He then muted his phone and climbed back into bed next to the boy who, apparently, was in love with him. He had barely gotten himself settled before Even was shuffling over to rest his head on Isak’s chest. Isak ran his hands through Even’s soft hair once, twice, three times and then Even’s breathing steadied and he fell fast asleep. Isak watched the rise and fall of Even’s head on his chest for several more minutes before he too fell victim to the night. 


	3. This is hazing, it's gotta be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Mikael unknowingly plays fairy godmother

Isak blinked awake the next morning to find Even’s blue eyes already staring back at him and his first coherent thought was _wow,_ _he is devastatingly beautiful._ He was the kind of beautiful that it hurt to look at. Like staring directly into the Sun. With his ruffled hair and his sleep-soft eyes, it was nothing less than a _privilege_ to see him like that. 

The two of them must have moved in the night because they were facing each other now, Even’s arm thrown around Isak’s waist, and Even was watching him like his face held the secrets to the universe. Like he was in complete awe that Isak existed not only in his bed, but on the planet. It shouldn’t have been endearing, but Isak couldn’t help but smile. 

“Stop,” he whined, burying his face in the pillow underneath him. “How long have you been watching me sleep? That’s so creepy.” 

“You’re cute when you sleep,” Even said, placing his palm on Isak’s cheek to turn him back around. Isak moved as he was led, turning into Even and nosing up towards him on instinct until their lips were close enough to kiss. Even’s breath was minty against his face and Isak wondered once again just how long he had been up. 

“Kiss me,” he said, wriggling his body closer until the two boys were touching all along their torsos. “No one will know.” 

Even groaned, but his self-control was much better than it had been the night before because instead of kissing him on the lips like Isak wanted, he placed one soft kiss on Isak’s neck and then sat up. Isak was so frustrated, both sexually and otherwise, that he was ready to just start screaming, but then Even’s groan of annoyance turned into a groan of pain and Isak sprang up in worry. 

“Are you okay?” 

He quickly realized that yes, Even was okay—he was just hungover. 

“How much did I drink last night?” he asked, resting his forehead in his hand. 

“Dude, so much,” Isak laughed. “Mikael made me drive you home.” 

Even looked over and rolled his eyes in commiserating sympathy. “I’m surprised he didn’t make Magnus do it.” 

Isak stood from the bed in the hopes of getting dressed, but when he spotted his stiff jeans on the floor, he just couldn’t bring himself to pull them on. Even seemed to read his mind. “Sweat pants are in the third drawer down,” he said, pointing. Isak picked out a pair that looked like they might fit him and slid them on. 

“What do you want?” he asked. “Water? Gatorade? Pancakes? Wait, I can’t make pancakes. Pop-Tarts? Do you have Pop-Tarts?” 

“Just get me a water,” Even said. “And one of whatever you can find in the pantry.” 

“Will do.” He wandered out into the hallway and it took him a second to get his bearings. The apartment was small, but he’d never been inside it in the daylight before and he wasn’t quite sure where he was going. When he stepped into the kitchen, he was surprised to find that he was not alone. 

“Good morning,” Mikael greeted around a bite of cereal with a smile so fake Isak winced. “Sleep well?” 

“Uh…” Isak mused, irrationally grateful that he’d bothered to put pants on at all. “Do you live here?” He'd always assumed he lived in the house with the rest of the exec board, but unless he'd stopped by specifically to check on Isak, that didn't look to be the case. 

“I do,” Mikael nodded. “Did Even forget to mention that?” 

“Uh, yeah, he did.” He fought the urge to back slowly out of the room like a cornered animal. Mikael cocked an eyebrow, still waiting for an explanation, and even though Isak knew it was a ploy to get him to talk, it still worked. “Even made me stay,” he said, pointing down the hallway accusingly. “I didn’t want to! I told him I had to come back to the house, but he took the keys and wouldn’t let me leave.” 

“Uh huh,” Mikael hummed, squinting his eyes doubtfully. “See, I know you’re lying, but that is exactly why _we have rules_.” He chomped down hard on his next bite of cereal just as Isak heard Even’s door click open from down the hall. Isak and Mikael both watched the doorway expectantly until Even came skidding around the corner. He froze upon seeing Mikael. 

“Shit.” The two boys stared each other down for several seconds before Mikael threw his hands up in exasperation. 

“Seriously, Even? _Seriously?_ ” 

“I didn’t even kiss him, Mikael,” Even implored. “You would be so fucking proud of me.” Mikael tried to keep a straight face, but within seconds he was laughing so hard that the other two boys started laughing with him. 

“I’m going to pay you back for this, Even Bech Næsheim,” Mikael choked out when his laughter began to subside. “Just you wait.” 

* 

He didn’t get a chance until Halloween, which Isak was both looking forward to and dreading. He was looking forward to it because that would mean his midterms were finally over and he might actually be able to get more than four consecutive hours of sleep, and he was dreading it because the Halloween party at Pi Sig was not only mandatory, but the brothers got to pick the pledges’ costumes and Isak knew it was going to be bad. Miley Cyrus on a wrecking ball bad. The Village People bad. Donald Trump bad. 

He had been holding out hope that maybe Even would be able to temper the worst of it from coming his way, but it seemed that his luck had finally run out. 

“Got your costume,” Mikael said at the end of one of their pledge meetings, dropping a paper bag onto the couch next to him. Isak looked down at the bag and then up at Mikael, whose smirk was pure evil. He swallowed nervously and pulled open the bag to peek inside. What he saw (or didn’t see) had him blushing in seconds. 

“You’re fucking kidding me,” he mumbled. “This is hazing—it’s gotta be. What did I do to deserve this? Why are you punishing me?” 

Mikael’s smirk got wider. “You might have made my job as pledge educator a living hell, but you can thank Even for that one. I’m not punishing you. I’m punishing _him_.” He ruffled Isak’s hair like he was an actual two-year-old, but was already gone by the time Isak ducked out of his reach. 

Isak took a deep, steadying breath before looking back into the bag, hoping that maybe his mind had exaggerated just how bad it was. It hadn’t. In fact, the costume actually looked _worse_ on second inspection. And was that…glitter? 

“Fucking hell.” 

* 

“Nope, no, I can’t do it,” Isak said, looking at himself in the floor-length mirror on the inside of his closet door. Jonas sighed for the fifteenth time and appeared in the mirror behind him dressed as a man-sized baby, complete with a diaper, bonnet, and giant pacifier. 

“We all look stupid, Isak, just get over it,” he sighed. 

“Um, no, I will not get over it,” he cried. Logically, he knew he was being a bit overdramatic, but he couldn’t stop. “All of your important bits are at least covered. _I_ look like a stripper.” 

Jonas cocked his head and looked down at the gold satin boxer-briefs Isak had managed to squeeze his junk into after a five minute wrestling match and shrugged. “Yeah, but like a really sexy stripper, you know?” 

In addition to the boxers, which left literally _nothing_ to the imagination, Isak was wearing a pair of cheap costume-store angel wings and a halo made out of pipe cleaners. He might be dressed like an angel, but it looked so sacrilegious that it would probably send him straight to hell. 

“Dude, if I get a boner in this, the whole world is going to know!” 

“Are you planning on getting a boner at a frat party?” Welp, it wasn’t like it hadn’t happened before. “Look, you can’t back out now. If you do, you’ve spent two months not fucking Even for no reason at all.” 

“Ugh, Even!” Isak groaned because this was all his fault, both the costume itself and pledging a fraternity in the first place. He grabbed the only trench coat he owned out of his closet and wrapped it around himself for the walk to the frat house. He heard his wings crunch beneath the fabric but he really didn’t fucking care. “I need to get some alcohol in me like yesterday. Can we just go?” 

“Sure,” Jonas laughed, throwing on his own coat and grabbing his keys. They were halfway down the stairs when he started chuckling under his breath. 

“What?” Isak snapped, stopping in the middle of stairwell to glare up at Jonas who was following behind him, sure that he must be laughing at him. 

“Nothing,” he said between guffaws, waving Isak away. “It’s just that—” More laughter. “Oh my God, I can’t wait for Even to see you in that. I’m kind of in love with Mikael right now.” 

Isak let out a scream of frustration to the heavens and continued his march to the gallows. 

* 

The party was already in full swing when they arrived, but thankfully Isak was able to get two beers in him before he was wrestled out of his coat. There was a chorus of wolf-whistles and some good-natured ribbing as he bared his chest to the room, but everyone seemed more preoccupied with what Even’s reaction would be than with Isak himself. Even, however, was nowhere to be found and the boys quickly lost interest. 

Isak had to admit that it could be worse. Mahdi was dressed as a lifeguard, wearing only a Speedo, and had to carry around a surfboard and a stuffed shark everywhere he went. Magnus was sitting in the empty fireplace wearing a red shirt with construction paper flames taped to it. He wasn’t allowed to move. The boys took turns fetching him booze. 

It was after midnight when Isak saw Even for the first time. He was leaning against the far wall talking to Jonas, but his eyes were locked on Isak. He didn’t move, didn’t gesture for Isak to join them so, feeling shy for the first time all night, Isak ducked back into the living room. If Even wanted to say hi, he would come do it. He never did, but he was never far away either. Isak could feel his eyes on him all night long, a feather-light touch that he just couldn’t shake. 

He was walking down the hallway to the kitchen in search of yet another beer when he suddenly felt a warm hand on his bare back, pushing him towards the bathroom at the end of the hall. 

“Whoa,” he protested, trying to dig his heels into the hardwood floor without success. “What the hell are you doing?” But it was too late. He was already locked in the bathroom and there in front of him, licking his lips with his face flushed red, was Even. 

“I tried to stay away, I swear I did,” he said with a desperation in his voice that just begged Isak to believe him. Before he could say anything, however, Even dropped to his knees and pulled the gold satin boxers down to his ankles. Isak had never gotten hard so fast in his life. 

“Even,” he hissed, trying to pull back, but he was right in front of the sink and there wasn’t anywhere left for him to go. “What are you doing?” 

Even looked up at him from the floor and when he spoke, his breath ghosted across Isak’s cock, making it jump. “I was going to suck your dick if you’ll let me.” Isak wasn’t sure what to say, so he just stood there with his mouth wide open and Even seemed to take that as permission because he licked his lips and moved in closer, taking Isak’s cock in hand and stoking up its length several times. Isak felt his eyes roll back in his head. 

“I don’t have time to make this pretty, baby,” Even breathed. “Mikael’s been following me around all night and he’s going to realize Sana isn’t actually looking for him in like two minutes, so—” 

“I swear to God, Even, if you don’t put my dick in your mouth right now, I’m going to fucking scream.” Even cocked his head as if to say ‘As you wish’ and then leaned in, taking just the tip into his mouth and sucking gently. Isak hissed as the wet heat enveloped him and reached back to grab hold of the sink to brace himself. After only a second, Even pulled off with a _pop_ and a cheeky grin. 

“You don’t feel pressured, right?” he asked. Isak knew he was saying something, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what it meant. 

“Huh?” 

Even smirk grew wider and even in his muddled state, Isak could tell that he was messing with him. “You don’t feel like you have to let me suck your dick to get into the fraternity? Because I don’t mind stopping.” He made a move like he was about to skulk away and Isak was not having it. He grabbed the top of his hair and held on tight. 

“Don’t mind stopping? You’re the one who dragged _me_ in here!” His hips thrust forward of their own accord and he tried not to find it ridiculously sexy when his dick bounced off of Even’s cheek. “God, Even, _please_ —” 

With one last kiss to his hip, Even grabbed Isak by the base of his cock and then swallowed him down to the hilt. It felt like heaven and burned like the fires of hell. Isak blacked out for a good ten seconds before he was able to look down and when he did, he almost had to look away again because Even was staring up at him with those bright blue eyes and it was too much. It was a messy blowjob, sloppy and unpracticed, and Even was jerking him way faster than he usually liked, but they _were_ racing a time limit. 

“Fuck, Even,” he murmured, using his fingers to keep Even’s hair out of his eyes. He wanted to see him. “Just like that, baby, keep going.” 

Isak was on the brink of orgasm after less than a minute and Even must have been close behind him because Isak watched as he used one hand to paw open the front of his too-tight jeans and pull his own cock out, jerking it in time to the bobbing of his head. Even moaned around Isak’s cock and that was all it took to push Isak over the edge. He was coming before he even had time to warn Even and he would feel horribly embarrassed about that later (Blowjob etiquette was a thing, okay?), but Even didn’t seem to mind in the moment. He just swallowed Isak’s seed down and sped up his hand until he reached his own climax, coating the tile floor in cum. 

Isak must have blacked out a bit at the end there too because the next thing he knew, he was tangled up with Even in a pile on the floor. 

“I fucking hate you,” he said, looking down at the gold boxers hanging off of his right ankle. Even let out a warm laugh that echoed in their small bathroom. 

“I fucking hate Mikael.” 

They were both weak-limbed and sex stupid so it took them way too long to clean up the bathroom and get dressed again. It was only as Isak was pulling those obnoxious boxers over his still-swollen cock that he realized Even had just given him a blowjob while he was wearing fairy wings and a halo and hoped it wouldn’t develop into some strange kink because he was burning that outfit as soon as the night was over. 

They did their best to flatten Even’s hair, but there was really nothing they could do about his swollen lips or Isak’s flushed chest. And if someone caught Even looking at Isak like he was looking at him now—like he was fucking dessert or something—yeah, they were done for. 

They had only taken two steps out of the bathroom when Mikael rounded the corner, beer in hand. The two boys froze, but he just took one look at them and then turned around without a word and disappeared in the opposite direction like he had never seen them at all. Once the shock wore off, Isak couldn’t help but laugh, burying his face in Even’s shoulder just so he could feel close to him again. Once they composed themselves, they grabbed Isak’s trench coat without saying goodbye to anyone, and left the party together. 


	4. You may now fuck the pledge

Mikael adamantly refused to let Isak step through the door to his and Even’s apartment unless he had his Psychology textbook in hand because while he didn’t seem to have any problems cockblocking the shit out of them, he at least seemed to care whether Even passed Psychology. So Isak and Even did a lot of “studying” over the coming weeks, which would have been super helpful if it was Biology or History or something, but Intro to Psych, while interesting, was also mind-numbingly easy. Isak had aced their first three exams without cracking a book and he doubted the non-cumulative final was going to be any more difficult. 

“I’m bored,” Isak said, dropping back on the bed so that his head spilled off the side. Even, who was sitting on the floor, turned to him with a smile. 

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” he smirked, flipping to a practice test at the back of the textbook. “Hell Week starts Monday.” 

Isak groaned loudly. “Which entails what exactly? Total Frat Move was super vague on the subject.” 

Even shrugged. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” 

“What the hell is the point of dating you, then?” he asked, sitting back up so that he was leaning against the wall. “You’re supposed to tell me these things, Even. That’s what good boyfriends do.” 

Even shut his textbook, smile growing wider, and abandoned it on the floor before climbing onto the bed with Isak and stalking towards him like some sort of predator. “Is that what we are? Boyfriends?” And there was that blush again. Damn. 

He looked over Even’s shoulder at the open bedroom door, praying that Mikael would choose that precise moment to play chaperone and save him from his own stupidity. 

“I just meant—” 

“I _want_ to be your boyfriend.” Isak turned to him in surprise. 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah,” Even chuckled. “Did you think I’d been suffering through blue balls for two months just for some quick fuck? I want to date the shit out of you, Isak.” Even was hovering over him now, their lips only centimeters apart and although he had wanted nothing more than for Mikael to intervene seconds earlier, now he thought he might actually kill him if he did. Still, it felt like kissing Even was crossing a line. A thin line, sure, considering that Even’s mouth had been around his dick, but they still hadn’t kissed and it felt almost like giving up to do it now, when they were so close to the finish line. 

“We still not doing this?” he asked against Even’s lips when it became obvious that neither of them planned to close the distance between them. Sometimes he worried that the actual act of kissing Even couldn’t possibly be as erotic as the act of _almost_ kissing Even. 

Even tore his gaze away from Isak’s lips and moved back to kiss his forehead instead. “One week, Isak.” 

“Ugh, fine,” he groaned and slammed his own textbook shut. “Then tell me something to get my mind off of your dick because I’m not going out there with a boner. Mikael’s got like a sixth sense for that shit.” 

Even chuckled. “Like what?” 

“I don’t know. Something I don’t know about you. Like…when did you lose your virginity?” 

Even hissed and leaned back as if that was too big a topic to broach while they were sitting so close together, but there was a smile on his face so Isak didn’t worry about overstepping his bounds. “You mean that wasn’t on the list of facts they gave you to memorize about me?” 

Isak knew it was a joke, but he’d gotten so used to reciting the information whenever asked that it spilled out of him of its own accord. “Even Bech Næsheim, 20, Junior, majoring in Media Studies. Likes Baz Luhrmann films and sucking cock in frat house bathrooms.” 

“I see they’ve updated my card.” Isak rolled his eyes so hard that Even started laughing. “I was fifteen.” 

“Girl or boy?” 

“Girl. Sonja. We dated for like four years. Mikael _hated_ her. He likes you, though. I can tell.” Isak felt a self-satisfied flutter in his stomach at the knowledge that if nothing else, Even’s best friend at least preferred him over the ex. 

“Have you ever been with a boy?” He tried not to sound as insecure as he felt, but without his textbook open, he had no choice but to look Even in the eyes and he knew he was blushing. 

“Well, I don’t know if you’ve heard,” Even stage-whispered, “but I did suck some guy off in a frat house bathroom once, so…” 

“Even!” Isak laughed. 

“No, Isak,” he smiled. “I’ve never been with a guy.” He didn’t ask Isak the question in return and Isak wasn’t sure if it was because he just didn’t care or if it was because it was so obvious that he hadn’t. Even watched him closely for several seconds, as if waiting for a reaction, before speaking again. “You want to know something else you don’t know about me?” The humor that had imbued his voice seconds earlier was gone and Isak felt something in the room shift. He nodded. “I’m bipolar.” 

Isak felt his eyes widen marginally, but tried to keep the shock off of his face. They’d just covered bipolar disorder in Psych so he at least knew what it was—knew that it didn’t change anything—but he didn’t know how to tell Even that and make him believe it because Even was staring up at Isak with wide, vulnerable eyes, like he had given Isak a shovel and expected him to bury him. 

After almost a whole minute spent trying to think of something to say, Isak finally just spit out the first thing that popped into his head because if Even had been quiet after Isak dropped something like that on him, he would be freaking out. “My mom’s schizophrenic.” He realized belatedly that that sounded a lot like how “Oh, that’s nice. I have a gay cousin” sounded when Isak came out to literally anyone, but that’s not how he meant it at all. Even had entrusted him with his biggest secret and Isak had only wanted to do the same in return. 

By some miracle, however, he thought Even might have understood that because he was staring over at Isak with so much love, so much joy, that it was infectious. Before he knew it, they were right back in the position they started in, chests together, lips a breath away from touching. 

“This conversation didn’t help at all,” Isak noted just as a very pointed throat cleared from down the hall. 

* 

Hell Week sucked. 

Isak’s phone was taken away by a very apologetic Even on Monday morning and he hadn’t seen it since. When he wasn’t in class, he had to be at the house where he was given a seemingly endless list of chores, which was really cutting into his study time considering that finals were coming up. He was also pretty sure the other pledges were starting to hate him because Even had this knack of taking half of Isak’s chores for himself and Isak was too weak to tell him to stop. 

By Friday, Isak was running off of only about six hours of sleep in the past five days combined and he felt like he was starting to go a bit crazy. Which is why when Mikael sent them home to their own dorm rooms Friday night, he was instantly suspicious. 

“It’s happening tonight,” Jonas said as they staggered across campus towards the freshmen dorms. 

“What is?” Magnus asked. 

“I don’t know,” Jonas shrugged. “But whatever’s happening, it’s happening tonight. They’ve had someone working around the clock to keep us awake since Monday. They’re not just letting us out of the house out of the goodness of their hearts. They’re setting up some sort of ritual sacrifice or something.” 

“I heard,” Mahdi started, “that they’re going to bring us all a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread and we have to eat it in ten minutes or we’re out.” 

Isak scrunched his nose in distaste, but Magnus nodded like that made total sense. “I heard that they’re going to kidnap us from our beds, blindfold us, and drop us off in the middle of nowhere, naked, and we have to kill a goat.” 

“Kill a goat?” Jonas asked incredulously. “Where are we going to find a goat? I’m not killing a goat.” 

“That’s what Chris told me!” Magnus argued. “What about you, Isak? What did Even tell you?” 

“Um,” Isak mused, trying to think back to any possible hint Even might have given him as to what was coming next. “I don’t know. He promised not to tie me up without permission.” Sure, Isak was a little concerned about what Hell Week was leading up to, but he thought the waiting might be the worst of it. Maybe he was putting too much trust in Even, but he just _knew_ that Even would never ask him to do something that was too horrible or too humiliating to live through. 

Jonas, Magnus, and Mahdi, however, did not seem to share this positive outlook. “Text him!” Jonas cried. “Offer him like a blowjob or something and if he says no, we’ll know something’s up.” 

“I can’t text him!” Isak argued. The other boys were already hissing their distaste when he threw his hands up. “He has my fucking phone! I could email him from my laptop, I guess, but I don’t really want a ‘Do you want a blowjob?’ email bouncing around the school’s server. Can you get kicked out for that?” 

They hypothesized about their fates for a few more minutes before heading their separate ways, Magnus and Mahdi to their respective dorms on the other side of the Quad and Jonas and Isak to the one they shared. Isak didn’t even bother showering when they arrived, just crashed into bed and fell asleep within seconds. He had no misconception that he was actually going to get a full night’s sleep, but he was certainly going to take what he could. 

He wasn’t even surprised when the overhead lights clicked on at 1:28 the next morning. “Rise and shine, boys!” Isak immediately groaned and rolled over until his face was buried in his pillow, drowning out the light. “Up, up, we don’t have all day.” The voice drifted over to Jonas’s bed, so Isak thought he might be safe until he felt a familiar touch run up and down his back. 

“Hey, baby,” Even whispered, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to him. “Sleep well?” 

“Fuck off, Even,” he mumbled into his pillow. “I’m going to fucking kill you.” 

“Well, now, that’s not very nice.” The bed sprang back up as Even climbed off of it and his sudden absence combined with the fear that Isak had caused it is what eventually got him to sit up. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and turned to find Jonas and Mikael watching the two of them from across the room. 

“Blue or red?” Even was digging through Isak’s closet and had two jackets clutched in his hand, one blue, one red. 

“I don’t fucking care, Even, oh my God.” Jonas and Mikael snorted at the two of them simultaneously, but turned away at a glare from Isak. Even decided on the red jacket and tossed it over. Knowing that it would be pointless to argue, Isak pulled the jacket and a pair of tennis shoes on before standing. It was only then that he noticed the long black strip of cloth Even had tucked into his hand. 

“Oh, no. No fucking way, dude. You’re not _blindfolding_ me! You fucking promised!” 

“No,” Even reminded him with a smirk. “I promised I wouldn’t tie you up. This is different.” 

Isak glanced over at Jonas, who just shrugged. Mikael, seeming to take that as permission, began to tie his own strip over Jonas’s eyes. Even moved to do the same to Isak, but Isak quickly pushed him away. “You put that blindfold on me now and you’ll never get to do it in the bedroom,” he hissed. Jonas let out a choked off laugh, but the look of sheer horror on Even’s face was worth it. 

“I swear to God,” Mikael cried. He had finished Jonas’s blindfold and had apparently reached the end of his patience. He snatched Isak’s out of Even’s hands, forcibly turned him around, and began tying the fabric over his eyes. “You are completely useless. _Sure, I’ll help you pass out flyers, Mikael. Sure, I’ll help you pass out pledge pins, Mikael. Sure, I’ll help you kidnap my fucking boyfriend, Mikael_ . I’m an idiot. I should have sent you to get Magnus or something.” 

“But where’s the fun in that?” 

Mikael pulled the blindfold tight and then smacked Isak lightly on the head to let him know that he was done before pushing him into Even’s waiting arms. “Take that off of him and I’m disassociating you.” 

Trekking across campus with a blindfold on was not easy, but Even kept a steady hold on his upper arms and did not let him stumble even once. Isak didn’t really start to worry until he was led into a car. He and Even sat in the back with Mikael driving and Jonas in the front seat. Even though it was Even and even though he trusted him, there was still something about being led into the unknown that had his heart beating uncomfortably. As if Even could sense that, he reached out and grabbed Isak’s hand, squeezing tightly. 

“So,” Mikael mused from the front seat. “When they sexile you, feel free to stay at my place.” 

Isak let out an affronted noise as Even laughed, but Jonas was having none of it. “He can’t sexile me,” he said, matter-of-fact. “That was the deal he made to get me to go to that first pledge party.” 

There was a beat and then—“Damn it! So _I’m_ the one that’s getting sexiled?” 

“I mean, it’s not like we’re going to be having sex _in your room_ ,” Even laughed. 

“So you just expect me to go home at the end of the night and fall asleep in the room next to yours even though I _know_ the two of you are having sex for the first time? No, I’m not doing that. That’s weird. Isak, how comfortable is your mattress?” 

“First time? Really?” Jonas laughed. “I thought for sure the two of you would have caved by now.” 

“Even is more scared of me than he likes to admit,” Mikael said. 

“Um, it’s a school-issued mattress,” Isak shrugged, ignoring Jonas’s comment. “One of the plastic ones.” 

“Fuck it. I’ll just sleep at the house.” 

They drove around for so long that Isak wasn’t even sure they were in the same city anymore, but Even managed to keep the fear at bay, stroking his knee soothingly and wrapping his arm around the younger boy. Isak leaned into him and rested his head on his shoulder. He was still too stressed to be able to fall asleep, but cradled in the warmth of Even’s arms, it was a very near thing. 

“Do you remember when Jeff did this to us?” Even asked Mikael about fifteen minutes into the trip. 

Mikael chuckled. “Oh my God, yes. He spoke in rhymes the whole time and kept making not-so-subtle references to _The Hunger Games_. I was fucking terrified.” So Isak guessed that was probably the point. 

When the car eventually came to a stop, he climbed out without question, knowing that resistance was futile. Even led him up a set of rickety wooden stairs into a building and then guided him though a narrow hallway into a much larger room. There were lights flickering behind his blindfold, like candles maybe, but nothing else to give away where they were. He could feel people all around him, watching him, and it felt like small pinpricks against his skin. 

Even lined him up next to the other pledges—he could hear Jonas breathing on his right—and then squeezed his hand one last time before leaving him. Isak felt his absence like a punch to the gut. 

No one was talking, but the sound of Isak’s breath in his ears was deafening. He knew that they could do whatever they wanted to him right now and he would be helpless to stop them. His heart tripped over itself in panic, but then he thought of Even and it started to slow. _He wouldn’t do that to you_. 

The silence grew deeper, as if the entire room was waiting in rapt anticipation, and then Mikael began speaking. “You entered this room as pledges. You will leave as brothers. Please remove your blindfolds.” 

Isak ripped his away hastily, not wanting to be in the dark for any longer than he had to. He looked around the room, not sure what he was expecting, but was surprised to find that they were only in the Pi Sig house, which meant Mikael had been driving them around in circles for no reason at all. That knowledge set Isak at ease, like maybe if that was just for show, the rest of it was as well. 

The brothers lined the walls on both sides of the room, dressed head to toe in black, and they seemed to have abandoned the use of electricity because all the lights were off but the room was filled with just enough flickering candles to make it look creepy as fuck. 

He found Even along the wall to his right and he took what strength he could find from him. He never looked away, not as he recited oaths and pledges, not even as an official Pi Sigma Beta active pin was pinned to his shirt. The only time he did look away was when he heard Mikael mention something about stripping down and drinking the blood of your brothers, but after one harrowing second, he realized he was joking and then, miraculously, it was over. 

“I now pronounce you official members of the Brotherhood of Pi Sigma Beta and would like to remind you to please drink responsibly.” Mikael hopped down from the stool he was standing on as the brothers let out a raucous cheer. 

“Hey, Even?” he heard someone yell as the lights were turned back on and an ice-cold beer was pressed into Isak’s hand. “You may now fuck the pledge!” Isak groaned at the horrible joke and was pleased to find that Even was already there for him to bury his flushed cheeks into. 

“Mikael was right,” he murmured into Even’s neck. “They all know we’re going to have sex. It’s weird.” 

Even chuckled. “Well if you feel weird about it, we certainly don’t have to do it.” 

Isak lifted his head to look into Even’s mirth-filled blue eyes. “ _That_ is not what I said.” 

They ended up staying at the party for longer than Isak thought they would and it was nice, walking from room to room with Even’s hand in his, talking to the brothers while Even looked down at him lovingly. It felt like the start of something amazing. 

* 

It was four in the morning when they finally left the party and although Isak was still operating on a dangerously small amount of sleep, he had never felt so alive. When they arrived at the apartment, Even ushered him inside first and Isak was surprised to find that the once-familiar threadbare furniture looked different. Everything was washed in a new light, like even the walls knew that things had changed. 

He heard the door click shut behind him and knew that he should turn around, should say something, but it felt like there was a fist clenched around his heart and he found that he was terrified. Not of Even, not of what they were about to do, but of all of the expectation that they’d been building for weeks and how there was a very real possibility of it falling flat. 

“Hey,” Even said behind him and Isak turned, his fears suddenly forgotten as he met Even’s ice blue eyes. Even stared down at him and Isak was once again reminded of the Sun and how it warmed and comforted. 

“Hi,” Isak agreed, something settling inside of him, and before he had a chance to overanalyze things, he took that last leap forward and their lips met in a searing kiss. It was every cliché Isak had ever heard rolled into one: fireworks and earthquakes and butterflies. Isak felt his fingers tangle in Even’s hair and he pulled him as close as their bodies would allow, reveling in the taste that he had been denied for weeks. Isak had kissed people before, but it had never felt like that. It had never felt so right. It had never been something that he thought he would lay awake thinking about later, but Isak knew he would be playing that kiss over and over again in his head until the day that he died. 

Even steered him down the narrow hallway, their lips still pressed together, bouncing off of walls and doorframes as they went, until they finally made it into the bedroom where they crashed onto the bed and made quick work of each other’s clothes. 

If Isak had thought Even looked beautiful _in_ clothes, well he was only half-right because he looked even better outside of them, all long lines, pale skin, and lithe muscle. He could have spent hours worshipping Even’s body—would have too if Even hadn’t been in such a hurry to worship Isak’s. He laid Isak down in his sheets and worked to slowly tear him apart, sucking on his neck and collarbone until Isak was sure there would be a ring of dark purple bruises there the next day. He lavished kisses up and down his body, and scratched up the inside of his thighs until Isak was spread open and panting for Even to just _take_ already. 

There was a whole conversation they hadn’t had yet about things like tops and bottoms, but when Even crashed beside Isak on the bed, grabbed a bottle of lube from his bedside table, and slowly started opening himself up, Isak’s brain short-circuited a little because one thing that he knew for certain was that that wasn’t Even’s job. So he replaced Even’s fingers with his own clumsy, unpracticed ones and opened him up slowly until Even was a writhing puddle beneath him and Isak was so hard he was about a second away from coming untouched. 

“Isak, I’m good,” Even breathed after several long minutes, his breath ragged in Isak’s ears. “Please. I need you to fuck me.” 

Isak took a deep breath to steady himself (Because hearing Even say “I need you to fuck me” was doing thing to him, okay?) and then pressed one last bruising kiss to Even's lips before slowly pushing inside of him, inch by excruciating inch. He hadn’t realized before that sex was something you felt _everywhere_. Not just where they were joined, but in his head and his heart too. It was just Even. All Even. Everywhere. He could feel Even's heart beating where they were connected and it was intimate—more intimate even than the act itself. Like he was holding Even’s very life in his hands and for some unknown reason, the boy actually trusted him with it. 

Isak had thought he would have to be the one to comfort Even through this, but it turned out Even wasn’t the one that needed comforting. Once Isak was buried inside of him, he found that he couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. It was too much and not enough all at once and he felt like he was about to explode. And not the good kind of explode either. His very nerve endings felt like they were exposed and it was jarring. 

“Shh, baby,” Even said, pulling Isak down until he could press loving kisses against his face. “You’re perfect. So perfect.” 

His first few thrusts were shallow with no finesse to them at all, but Even grabbed his hips and began leading him into a rhythm that the older boy followed and soon they were crashing together like they had been doing it their whole lives. Like their bodies remembered each other from another life and were greeting each other like old friends, melting together into one soul. 

“Fuck, Isak, feels so good,” Even moaned, his fingers painting lines of fire down Isak’s back. “Just a little bit harder, okay? I need more. I need to feel more of you.” Isak obliged him for as long as he could, but every thrust shot through him like ecstasy and he’d already been about to come before they even started. The knowledge that Isak was literally inside of the most beautiful boy in the world was too much. Even was lying beneath him, whispering his name to the heavens like it was something holy, and Isak knew he was done for. 

He reached out for Even’s cock, sitting rock hard on his stomach between them, and stroked it in time with his thrusts. Isak was less than a second away from coming when Even reached his own climax, coating the both of them in hot, sticky cum, and Isak followed right behind with two last deep thrusts into Even’s body. 

They lay in a messy heap on the bed breathing heavily for several minutes until Isak found the strength to separate them. Once he did, Even was on him immediately, kissing his mouth and his cheeks and his eyelids and Isak couldn’t help but laugh at the overt show of affection. 

“God, I love you,” Even muttered, looking down at Isak with a look of barely contained adoration. It was beautiful. _He_ was beautiful. It wasn’t the first time he’d said it, but it was the first time Isak realized that he actually meant it. Isak blushed. 

“I love you too,” he smiled because, yeah, he really did. 

* 

Isak spent the semester break in Even’s apartment. Or more specifically, Even’s bedroom. He didn’t even have to sexile Mikael to do it because Mikael had gone home for the month-long holiday. It wasn’t until the break was finally over that Isak had to come to terms with the fact that him and Even didn’t actually live together. 

“I don’t mind if you sleep here,” Mikael said as he hauled two huge duffel bags through the door. “I don’t even mind if you have really loud sex. Just please don't let me walk in on you naked in any common areas. And I want something out of it.” 

“You want something out of it?” Even chuckled around a spoonful of cereal that he had grabbed once Mikael showed up. It was the first food they’d had time for all day. “Like what? You want to watch?” 

“Ugh, no,” Mikael winced. “Your little boy toy is helping me pass out pledge flyers tomorrow.” 

“What?” Isak cried. “No! Make Even do it. He did it last time.” 

“No way I’m doing that again,” Even shook his head. “The only reason I did it the first time was to meet you.” 

Isak froze, positive that he couldn’t possibly have heard that correctly. Mikael paid them no attention as he sorted through a stack of mail, as if that certainly wasn’t news to him. “Excuse me? What?” 

“Yeah,” Even shrugged. “Was that not obvious? I just figured I would bring you a flyer and then that would give me an excuse to talk to you in Psych. I had it all planned out. When you didn’t show up for the party, I was going to go up to you and say, ‘So, not good enough for my frat, huh?’ and then you were going to fall in love.” 

“Fraternity,” Mikael corrected off-handedly. Isak waved him off. 

“But I did show up!” 

“Which worked too, I guess,” Even said. “Just took longer.” 

Isak pinched the bridge of his nose to keep from cursing. “Are you telling me that I just went through ten weeks of pledgeship because you were too chicken to ask me out like a normal person?” 

“Oh, shut up. You loved it.” Even put his empty cereal bowl in the sink and crossed to where Isak was sitting on the counter. “Admit it,” he said, resting his hands on Isak’s thighs. “You loved it.” 

Isak rolled his eyes because, yes, he loved it, but he wasn’t about to admit that. Even, however seemed to gather the truth from his eyes because he just smiled and pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss that scrambled all coherent thoughts from Isak’s brain. 

“You two are disgustingly cute,” he heard Mikael scoff, but the two boys only pulled each other closer. “And what did I just say? No counters. Ten o’clock tomorrow, Valtersen, don’t be late.” It felt like an eternity later that they heard the slamming of a door, leaving the boys alone with each other and a counter that they definitely weren’t about to defile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to anyone who was expecting a lot of angst with the "Even's bipolar" reveal, but this story was (not so) secretly an excuse to write porn and I don't like a lot of angst in my porn.
> 
> Thanks to everyone for the comments and kudos! I've had so much fun writing this fic and I'm glad there are people out there who actually enjoyed reading it.


End file.
